Kashiberry Flute Meets Pen
by Saberfang321
Summary: Suzumi Tamao finds new love upon the slopes of Kashima Mountain, but will the gorgeous Kamiizumi Yasuna be enough to win over Tamao's lingering affection for Aoi Nagisa? An adorable crossover romance, with a hint or more of lemon.
1. The Sorrowful Goodbye

This fanfic is dedicated to my friend ninemil, who has helped me considerably with his knoweledge of Strawberry Panic and of Japanese culture and customs, and his excellent artwork which has motivated me to continue writing; and to my friend googley, who is my most avid reader and eagerly reads each chapter, and is impressed with my work; and to my anime-loving facebook friends, who have encouraged me and given me advice; and finally chimeratech, the maker of the AMV "Yuri Always", for it was their anime music video of Strawberry Panic and Kashimashi that first gave me the idea to write a crossover fanfic. I couldn't of done this without any of the afore mentioned people, I give them all my thanks.

This is a fanfic that I've been working on, that's a crossover between the yuri animes Strawberry Panic and Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl. You need to have seen Strawberry Panic to understand this fanfic, but you don't need to have seen Kashimashi.

* * *

Kashiberry – Flute Meets Pen

Written by Saberfang321 (Bryan E.)

Chapter One – The Sorrowful Goodbye

"Nagisa!" an exhausted Shizuma shouted across the large chapel. "I love you!"

A chorus of gasps rose among the students, at what was a confession of love from the infamous ex-Étoile.

Tamao, who was standing to the side of Nagisa, closed her eyes. The star of the campus had come to steal away her beloved friend and partner.

"Nagisa!" Shizuma shouted again.

"But, but!" Nagisa frantically said, tears welling up in her eyes. Shizuma had said before to forget about her and Nagisa cried a lot after that, but now this?

A moment later, Tamao reached over and pulled Nagisa in front of her, and embraced her from behind. "She just couldn't help it, could she?" said Tamao with a pained expression on her face.

"Tamao-chan?" asked Nagisa, whose eyes grew wide at the turn of events.

"Please go to her, Nagisa-chan," Tamao said quietly, pulled the ribbons she had tied in the red-head's hair, and pushed her away.

* * *

Tamao awoke with a start. She had fallen asleep while lying on her back across her dorm room bed. That had been the eighth time she had that dream, ever since that fateful day in the chapel, during the Étoile election ceremony.

_I wonder if it really was such a good idea to let her run off with Shizuma-sama,_ Tamao thought to herself.

It had been four months since the election, and Tamao still couldn't get over what had happened. Even now, rumors about the incident continued to be a hot topic for those who hadn't gotten to see it. But one fact was clear; and well known as well: the previous Étoile and the fourth year Miatorian transfer student were dating. There were even rumors circulating that the two were engaged, though Tamao had yet to see any proof. After Nagisa had started dating Shizuma, she stopped spending all her time with Tamao, instead spending most of it with her girlfriend. Three or four nights a week Tamao slept alone in the double dorm room. Nagisa didn't even tell Tamao much of what went on between her and Shizuma. The two former close friends were drifting apart.

The door opened, and Tamao sat up and looked over to see Nagisa walking in.

"Oh, hi Nagisa-chan," said Tamao.

"Hey Tamao-chan, I've come to gather my things," Nagisa replied, and closed the door. She went over to her bed, pulled a suitcase out from under it, and brought it to her dresser and started packing her clothes and whatnot. It was the end of the semester, and the students of Astraea Hill were heading home for a four week break.

"Eh? Where are you going? I thought your parents were still overseas?" Tamao asked in confusion.

"Well, actually they still are, but Shizuma wanted to bring me to her house to meet her parents. However, I'm really nervous about it; I'm not sure how they will react when they find out their daughter is dating another girl, but I'm sure it will turn out alright. And we'll be staying there for the month, if her parents allow it."

"Oh, I see. Well, I guess I'll just visit my relatives again instead of staying at the dorms," Tamao sighed.

"I'm sorry, Tamao-chan," Nagisa apologized, and turned back to her suitcase to continue packing.

After a few minutes passed by, Nagisa broke the silence.

"Tamao-chan? I'm really going to miss you, and all the fun times we've had this year."

"Why is that? We'll be able to see each other all the time next year!" Tamao replied enthusiastically, trying to forget the dream, though it was nearly impossible to do so.

"What? You don't remember? We'll be fifth years when we return, so that means we won't be sharing the same room anymore."

Tamao suddenly remembered, and sighed sadly.

"Oh you're right, I had completely forgotten about that." Ever since the election, Tamao had not been herself. Now, it seemed that she had finally gotten a long awaited roommate, and now she was going to be lonely in a single room again.

As Nagisa packed, Tamao noticed a glint of light come from Nagisa's finger, and saw a beautiful ring on her engagement ring finger, though Tamao couldn't see much from where she was sitting. A single tear rolled down Tamao's cheek, and she hastily wiped it away. _So the rumors are true, huh?_

Tamao was silent for a while, but then spoke up. "Is that what I think it is? On your finger…" her voice grew quiet near the end, instantly regretting the question, and dreading the answer she knew was the reply.

Nagisa stopped what she was doing, looked down at her finger, and gazed at the ring, as a warm smile gathered on her lips. "Yeah," she said thoughtfully, her eyes sparkling, "Shizuma proposed to me. We're going to wait a few years, and then we're getting married."

Tamao's heart sunk to the bottom of her chest when she heard that, and a wave of sorrow and doubt washed over her. The friend she had loved so dearly was getting married to someone else.

After Nagisa finished packing, she closed her suit case, and came over and embraced Tamao.

"Don't worry; maybe Shizuma will let me visit you during the break!" Nagisa said. "Goodbye, my precious friend!"

"Goodbye, Nagisa-chan," Tamao said, trying not to cry.

After Nagisa had picked up her suit case and left the dorm room, Tamao stood up, went over to the window, and stared out at the campus. She could see many students heading to their waiting parents and chauffeurs. She then spotted Shizuma standing at the gate in the distance, a chauffeur at her side. Half a minute later, Nagisa came out of the entrance of St. Miator, and bounded towards her fiancée with an excited look on her face, and she dropped her suit case and threw herself into a tight embrace with the other girl. The chauffer picked Nagisa's suitcase up, and carried it away, as Shizuma and Nagisa followed close behind, Nagisa clutching onto her beloved's arm.

Tamao placed her hand on the window, as she watched the couple disappear into the trees.

"Nagisa-chan…" Tamao said sadly, as tears began to gather at the corners of her eyes. One by one, they began to trickle down her cheeks, as memories of the times she shared with Nagisa came to mind. _No, I shouldn't cry,_ Tamao said to herself, and wiped the tears away with her sleeve. She didn't bother to use the tissue in her dress's pocket. _I should be happy for her. After all, I was the one who urged her to go._

As Tamao continued looking over the campus, the sight of the distant trees swaying in the wind reminded her; during the break, she and her fellow Literature Club members had to write a poem about nature, and when the students returned in March, they were going to share their work.

_Maybe I should head to the Étoile greenhouse before I leave, to get some ideas for my poem,_ Tamao thought, and walked over to her door. Writing would be the only thing to keep her mind off of Nagisa. However, just as she opened it, she noticed Tsukidate Chiyo standing there, trying to gather the courage to knock on the door and say goodbye to her oneesama, Nagisa.

"Oh, Tamao-oneesama! Is Nagisa-oneesama in there?" Chiyo frantically shouted, nervousness getting the better of her.

"No, you just missed her, she left with Shizuma-sama a moment ago," Tamao replied, looking away.

"Really? Oh, um, I wanted to at least say goodbye before I go home for the break. But is she staying with Shizuma-oneesama or something?"

"Yeah, she is." said Tamao, a hint of annoyance apparent in her voice. She was trying to forget about that.

It was then that Chiyo had noticed that the skin around Tamao's eyes was moist.

"Uh, um…Tamao-oneesama, were you…crying?" Chiyo asked meekly.

"No, it's nothing," replied Tamao abruptly, rubbing her eyes. "I'm sorry, I have some matters to attend to. I'll see you in March," she said, closed and locked her door, and walked away, leaving Chiyo standing there confused. She had never heard Tamao speak in that tone before.

* * *

Tamao walked along the seldom used path to the Étoile greenhouse. That is, seldom used by students other than each school year's Étoile couple. After a few minutes, she reached the large glass greenhouse, opened the door, and walked inside. All around her, the flowers were blooming in a brilliant array of different colors. _Wow, Amane and Hikari have done an excellent job keeping the flowers healthy_, she thought as she looked around at the beautiful bouquets and potted flowers.

Just then, she heard soft giggling, and deeper chuckling that followed after. She looked to one corner of the greenhouse, and there she saw Amane watering some flowers, with Hikari snuggling up next to her. An image of Nagisa snuggling with Shizuma appeared in Tamao's head, and she shook her head to clear the thought. It was obvious now that she wouldn't be able to think much in here.

_I guess I'll just pack my things and head home now_, thought Tamao, and turned to leave. She had wanted to stay at the dorms for a little longer to spend as much time as she could with Nagisa, but with Nagisa going home with Shizuma that was impossible.

* * *

After Tamao had packed her things and changed, she dropped her room key off at the head sister's office, left the school, and walked toward the entrance of Astraea Hill where the large gate stood. She was wearing a long white dress, similar to the one she had worn when she visited her relatives last summer. As she neared the gate, she heard a voice from behind call her name. She turned around to see Yaya and Tsubomi holding hands, walking toward her, and Yaya's other hand was waving to her. Yaya was wearing a pair of shorts that looked like a pair of jeans with the legs torn off, and a red long-sleeved shirt. Tsubomi was wearing a light yellow dress.

"Another couple," Tamao sighed, but made sure her annoyance didn't show on her face. She waved back, and waited for them to catch up before the three continued walking. During the months following the Étoile election, Tamao had become closer to the two girls, who had kept Tamao company whenever Nagisa spent time with Shizuma, which was very often.

"Hey Tamao-chan, where are you headed?" asked Yaya.

"I'm taking the train into the city, and then from there I'll take the bullet train to the city where my family lives," she replied.

"We're going to the city too! Mind if we accompany you there?" asked Tsubomi.

"Sure, I would love to," said Tamao.

Yaya noticed that Tamao was looking depressed, and that Nagisa wasn't with her, and guessed that the reason she was depressed had something to do with Nagisa, so she tried to cheer her up.

"You know what? How about we hit a fast food place once we arrive in the city," suggested Yaya. "I know this one place there that makes delicious beef bowls!" she grinned.

At that, Tamao's stomach started growling, and she blushed a little. "That actually sounds pretty good; alright, let's go."

Tsubomi laughed when she heard Tamao's stomach. "I bet food will cheer you right up, just as it does with…" Tsubomi started, but was stopped midsentence when Yaya shot her a look. Tsubomi looked over at Tamao, and understood what Yaya meant, so she nodded to her and stopped talking. However, Tamao had heard what Tsubomi said, and looked away sadly. Nagisa always cheered up with food.

"Come on, lighten up! It's no fun when you're feeling down!" laughed Yaya, and poked Tamao playfully in the side. Tamao managed to smile a little, but no matter how hard she tried to think of something else, her thoughts continued to remain on Nagisa, wishing she hadn't let her go.

* * *

"Jesus, I can't believe that Nagisa-san!" growled Yaya, "she's always so clueless."

The three had arrived in the city and were now sitting and eating at a table in the beef-bowl restaurant Yaya had mentioned earlier. Tamao had just told Yaya and Tsubomi about what had happened in the dorm room earlier that day, about how she had noticed the engagement ring and asked Nagisa about it.

"I mean, yeah, I know she's in love with Shizuma-sama and all," Yaya continued, "but she should've at least noticed your feelings towards her way before the competition came around, and talked to you about them. But now they're engaged, and she never even told you? Come on! Even Tsubomi here isn't THAT clueless!" she poked fun at her first year girlfriend who was sitting next to her.

"Hey, I'm not clueless at all!" Tsubomi shot back, a look of frustration on her face.

Yaya grinned at Tsubomi, and used her free hand to reach over and ruffle the girl's long pink hair. "Shush now, I was only kidding around! I know you aren't clueless; in fact, you noticed I was sulking in my room when the ceremony was starting, so you came to cheer me up!"

Tamao chuckled. "Yeah, but to be honest, I'm not surprised that she never noticed how I felt about her, I always did my best to hide it. However, there's something that's been stuck on my mind this whole time; I don't think I should've ever urged Nagisa-chan on that day, I just gave her up without a fight," she said, regretting her actions that day, and shook her head in dismay. "And when I saw the ring on her finger, I was heartbroken."

"Well you really loved her right?" Yaya replied. "You wanted her to be truly happy, even if that meant letting her go. It's the same with me; sometimes I wish I had told Hikari my true feelings for her before she decided to run in the Étoile competition with Amane-sama, but she admired her so much, it just didn't feel right telling her how I felt, I didn't want to get in between them," she said, then paused, as if remembering something. "Actually, now that I think about it, I sort of did tell her my feelings, while that tennis match between Amane and Kaname was happening, but she turned me down in a way. Besides, if I hadn't let her go, I wouldn't be able to date Tsubomi right now, and I'm happy now she's by my side!"

Tsubomi giggled, leaned over and brushed Yaya's dark brown hair out of the way, and kissed her on the cheek. Yaya smiled, and put her arm around her lover's shoulder. "What I mean is that, I'm sure you will eventually find another person to love, one who will help you to forget about Nagisa-san."

Tamao laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess you're right," she said, and smiled. "Thank you, both of you; you two are my best friends."

Yaya and Tsubomi smiled back at her, and all three continued eating.

* * *

After they had arrived at the station, and Tamao had waved Yaya and Tsubomi goodbye as they stepped onto their train and waved back, Tamao walked over to the route map on the wall to wait for her train. However, just as she had reached it, one of the travelling pamphlets at the bottom of the map caught her eye, and she pulled it out of the holding case and looked at it. In the middle was a picture of a small mountain covered in trees. It looked to be nearly twice as tall as Astraea Hill. Near the top, the characters spelled out "Kashima Mountain". Just then, her train pulled into station. She didn't have time to read the information on the back, but it looked interesting enough, so she folded the paper up and slipped it into her dress's pocket and boarded the train, suitcase in hand.


	2. The Fateful Encounter

Chapter Two – The Fateful Encounter

Tamao had arrived in Kobe, her home city, and was now standing in front of a large black gate. Behind it lay an expansive lawn, with a path leading up from the gate to a large two story house in the distance. Tamao sighed, apparently dreading staying with her parents, who were very strict. She pressed the buzzer on the intercom next to the gate. A moment later, a female voice answered.

"This is the Suzumi residence; do you have any business here?"

"Yes, it's Tamao, I've come home from St. Miator for the break."

"Ah, Tamao-oujosama, please wait a moment."

The gate began to part, and Tamao walked through and up the path to her house. A maid opened the door.

"Welcome home, Tamao-oujosama," she greeted Tamao, "would you like me to take your things up to your room?"

"No, Kobayashi-san, thank you, I'll take them up there myself," replied Tamao, slipping off her shoes.  
Kobayashi Yoshimi was the head maid that had served the Suzumi family for years, and had watched over Tamao whenever her parents were gone, before Tamao had moved into Strawberry Hall. "Are my parents home by any chance?"

"They had a business trip to make I'm afraid, so they won't be back for another week," replied Yoshimi, closing the door behind Tamao.

"I see, thank you. I'll be in my room then," she said, and walked up the stairs and down the hallway to her room. She opened her door, walked inside, and looked around. The last time she was there was last summer, but it still felt like she hadn't been there for years. She walked across the dark blue carpet to a large oak armoire which sat against the left side wall, and set her suitcase down to unpack her clothes.

After she had finished, she moved to a vanity and mirror which was across from the door, just beside a large window framed with lacy white curtains, which overlooked the back yard of Tamao's mansion. Tamao looked over the collection of framed pictures that were propped up on the top of the vanity. One particular picture caught her eye, a picture she had snuck of Nagisa while she was asleep; Tamao had never told Nagisa she had taken it, and brought it back home with her last summer. She gazed at it sadly, and picked it up to place it face-down. She did not want to be reminded of her while she stayed there.

Tamao then walked over to a large double bed, with multiple pillows, blue sheets, and translucent fabric curtains which hung from the ceiling around Tamao's bed, which lay across from the armoire on the other side of the room. There was also a small night table that sat next to her bed, with a large lamp on top.

Tamao lay down on the bed, and stretched her arms out. She then remembered the pamphlet she had gotten at the train station, and pulled it out of her dress pocket, unfolded it, and read the information on the back. From the looks of it, there was a small city called Kashima City on the north outskirts of Tokyo, and it lied to the east of a very large hill called Kashima Mountain, just at the base. There was a shrine also at the base of the mountain, with a path leading up from the shrine to the top of the mountain.

Tamao thought for a moment. "I'll go hiking tomorrow on Kashima Mountain. That should give me plenty of ideas for my poem," Tamao said to herself. "I'll ask Kobayashi-san to make me a lunch for tomorrow as well."

That night, Tamao had a lot of trouble falling asleep, fearing that she might have that dream again. The fact that she had let Nagisa go that day continued to remain in her head, and she couldn't think of anything else no matter what. Sure enough, when Tamao finally did fall asleep, the same dream that she was dreading came again in her sleep.

* * *

The next day, Tamao had changed into a pair of khaki hiking shorts and a white tank top, but just as she was about to leave with two bento boxes Yoshimi had packed her for the trip, since she would be walking around quite a lot, Yoshimi stopped her.

"Wait a second, Tamao-oujosama, I have something for you," she said, and pulled a pink Motorola Razor phone from the pocket of her maid uniform, and handed it to Tamao. "I forgot to give you this; your parents had decided to buy you a new cell phone so you can call them more often."

"Huh? What will I do with it once I go back to Strawberry Hall? The dormitory rules state that cell phones and pagers are not allowed," asked Tamao in confusion.

"Well, you don't exactly have to tell the sisters there that you have one. Just make sure to hide it from them," she winked at Tamao. Tamao had forgotten, Yoshimi could be very crafty at times, sometimes letting Tamao do things while her parents were gone, things that her parents said were not allowed, like staying up and such.

Tamao laughed. "Thank you Kobayashi-san, I'll be sure to thank my parents when they come back," she replied. "Well, I'm off now. Bye!"

"Have a safe trip!" said Yoshimi, and she turned to head back to the house.

Tamao walked to the train station, purchased a train ticket to Tokyo, and waited for her train to arrive at the station. _I wonder what the mountain is going to be like_, she thought to herself. This was her first time going hiking. Though, she suspected it might be the same thing as walking through the woods on Astraea Hill.

Ten minutes later, a long silver bullet train pulled into station, and the doors opened up for people to get off. After that, Tamao walked up and boarded the train. The seats looked very comfortable, and she went over to the closest empty one, right next to the window, and sat down. A moment later, the doors closed, and she could hear the conductor announcing their departure for Tokyo. Then, Tamao felt a jerk, as the train began to pull out of the station. After the train had left the station, she could feel its speed increase more and more, until everything started to blur as the train sped along its way to Tokyo.

* * *

The girl sat on one of the two long couches that bordered one corner of the karaoke room, giggling at her male friend's attempt to sing one of the songs that played. After he had finished, he offered the mike to her.

"Here, would you like to sing a song now, Yasuna-san?" he asked the girl.

The girl, Kamiizumi Yasuna, shook her head, her wavy dark brown hair rustling about. "No, that's alright. How about Hazumu-kun and Tomari-chan sing now?" she replied, indicating the two girls who sat next to her, arguing over which song to choose. The girl who sat on the other couch, next to where the guy was standing, grinned mischievously.

"They're still trying to find a song with two singers to pick," she chuckled.

"Well Tomari-chan still can't choose one! She's being almost as indecisive as I am!" Osaragi Hazumu, one of the girls sitting next to Yasuna, replied.

"It's not my fault, most of these songs are too mushy!" shouted Kurusu Tomari, the other girl next to Hazumu.

"If you two don't hurry up, our time renting this room will expire. Asuta, you can go ahead and sing another song," said Mari Ayuki, the girl sitting on the other couch. "I'm not sure if they'll ever get around to choosing a song," she laughed again.

"Well, alright, I'll pick another song then," Soro Asuta, the guy standing next to where Ayuki sat, replied, and proceeded to type in another selection on the remote.

Yasuna giggled again, and looked over at the couple next to her, who were trying to pick out a song for two that wasn't too mushy. The two girls had started dating last Christmas Eve. An image of her and Hazumu kissing in the classroom came across her mind, and she shook her head. _No, I don't have any regrets about leaving Hazumu, I can finally walk alone, she thought to herself. Though, I wonder if I will eventually find someone._

After the rental time on the room had expired, the five friends got ready to leave.

"Hey, Yasuna-chan, Tomari-chan and I were just about to head to the mall to go shopping, would you like to come along too?" Hazumu asked Yasuna.

"I would really love to, but I was planning on going to the top of Kashima Mountain today so I can practice for my flute solo for the upcoming concert," Yasuna apologized.

"Darn. Oh well, you can come along next time, if you want," said Tomari. "Let's go, Hazumu!"

Just before the two ran off, Asuta stopped them. "Wait! I'm free today, can I go shopping with you guys?" he asked.

"Nope, girls only!" said Hazumu, and stuck her tongue out at him.

"That's unfair, you're always leaving me out!" whined Asuta.

"Don't forget," Ayuki added, "You used to be a boy, Hazumu."

"Yeah, but that was before! I'm already a girl now!" Hazumu laughed.

Ayuki shook her head, and Yasuna giggled. "Well, I'll see you guys later. Bye!" said Yasuna, and left the karaoke place, waving at the other four, Hazumu and Tomari still trying to ditch Asuta.

* * *

After the six hour train ride from Kobe to Tokyo, then an additional 30 minutes from Tokyo to Kashima City, Tamao had finally arrived at her destination. It was around 4p.m. when she stepped off the train. After walking through the town, she came across the shrine at the base of the mountain. There were groups of people here and there, getting their luck blessed and other things. She looked over to the right, and saw a wooden arch that extended over a path that led up the mountain, and a sign that said "Kashima Mountain Trail". _That must be it_, thought Tamao, and went over to the path to walk up the mountain.

As she walked the path, she looked around at the surroundings. There were so many different trees and plants everywhere. She could also hear all kinds of birds chirping and singing. As she neared the top of the mountain, that's when she heard it.

It was the very faint sound of a flute. Something came over Tamao, and she was driven to find the source of the sound. She couldn't explain why, but it's as if she was being drawn in. She followed it, and as she came closer, the song became clearer. It was a beautiful song, yet also sorrowful. She was so entranced by it that she didn't notice the storm clouds gathering in the horizon…

Reaching the top of the mountain, Tamao found the source. There, in the middle of a large clearing of grass, she saw a beautiful girl standing there, with a light purple jacket, a white skirt that extended past her knees to her shins, and a large yellow sunhat. She also had long, wavy, dark-brown hair that appeared black, and it swirled about in a light breeze. The girl also wore a light yellow hair band just above her bangs, though it couldn't be seen underneath the hat. She was playing a beautiful song on a long silver flute. Tamao stood there for several minutes, listening to that splendid song, until a strong gust of wind rushed past, catching the girl's hat and carrying it over to where Tamao stood, landing right at her feet.

Tamao picked the hat up, as the girl stopped playing the flute and turned to see where her hat had landed. The girl looked at Tamao with a curious expression, and Tamao's purplish eyes met those large, emerald-green eyes. Tamao shivered; it felt as if a surge of electricity buzzed throughout her entire body, as she looked into the other girl's eyes. _What an adorable girl_, thought Tamao, admiring how cute the other girl was, and her heart pounded at the sight of her.

After several seconds of silence, Tamao spoke up, at first so stunned by the beautiful girl that she stuttered.

"U-um, excuse me; thi-this is your hat, correct?"

"Yes, thank you for catching it," replied the girl in a soft, cheery voice.

The two girls approached each other, and exchanged the hat, their fingers briefly brushing against each other. Both girls gasped softly, as what seemed like a bolt of electricity passed through them. They stood there for a moment, looking into each other's eyes, until Tamao spoke.

"You have such beautiful eyes," she said, gazing into those emerald pools.

"Why thank you, you do too!" replied the girl.

Tamao chuckled. "Thanks. Hey, um, would you like to share my lunch? My maid packed me a little too much for me to eat," said Tamao, offering the second bento box to her.

"Really, is that ok?" she replied.

"Of course!" Tamao smiled, and the two girls sat down to eat Tamao's lunch.

* * *

"By the way, I never caught your name," said Yasuna, gazing at the gorgeous girl who sat before her, the girl's bluish-black bangs swaying in the wind. _She's so pretty_, thought Yasuna.

She was curious to learn more about the girl who had suddenly appeared and offered her lunch, but she had to know her name before asking anything else.

"My name is Suzumi Tamao, I'm a student at St. Miator Girls' Academy," she replied, using a pair of chopsticks to pick some rice up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tamao-san. Wow, St. Miator Girls' Academy? I heard that's a pretty high-class school," said Yasuna. "You're family must be very wealthy if you got accepted there."

"You don't have to use –san. But yeah, my family owns a corporation that designed the Suzumi helicopter," said Tamao. "Oh yeah, what's your name?" she added, almost forgetting to ask the girl in return.

"Me? I'm Kamiizumi Yasuna; I attend the high school here, Kashima High School. I'm 15-years-old." Yasuna replied.

"Yasuna-chan…you have such a cute name. Anyway, I'm 15 as well. What's it like going to a high school? At my school, there are only girls attending, so I've never really known what it's like to attend a high school with boys."

"Eh, high school is pretty great, and some of the guys are really kind, but others can be really mean, and make fun of you," said Yasuna, remembering how some boys used to make fun of her because of her condition…

* * *

The two girls sat and talked for about an hour, telling each other almost everything about themselves, their bento boxes almost empty. Tamao reached into hers, and noticed what she had picked up.

It was a fruit sandwich, made with Nagisa's favorite fruit. Tamao gazed at the sandwich, and a depressed look came over her face.

Yasuna noticed that Tamao had started to look sad.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" she asked, curious as to why her newly found friend had become depressed all of a sudden.

"Yeah, I'm just a little sad. This sandwich was made with Nagisa-chan's favorite fruit," Tamao replied.

"Nagisa-san? Who is that?"

Tamao sighed, "A girl I knew at St. Miator, she was my roommate and classmate, and also my best friend, until…"

"What happened?"

Even though Tamao usually kept quiet about how she felt, this time she felt that she could tell Yasuna everything, so she proceeded to tell her all about what had happened: how a new transfer student had come to Strawberry Hall, named Aoi Nagisa; how she had fallen in love with her; how the Étoile, Hanazono Shizuma, the elected representative of Astraea Hill and all three schools, had set her sights on Nagisa; how she and Nagisa had been nominated by the St. Miator student council president to succeed Shizuma; and finally, how during the election, Shizuma had burst into the chapel and confessed her love for Nagisa.

Yasuna quietly listened to all Tamao had to say. Tamao however, realized that she had just told Yasuna that she was in love with another girl, and stopped.

"Wait, please don't think I'm weird or anything! I know Nagisa is a girl, but I had still fallen in love with her. I hope you don't hate me because I might be a lesbian…"

Yasuna smiled, and shook her head. "No no, it's okay, I'll tell you later, but I had once been in love with a girl too…well, sort of. Anyway, please continue."

"Alright. Anyway, ever since the Étoile competition, Nagisa-chan has been becoming more and more distant, she doesn't talk to me as much as she used to," Tamao continued. "And now, just yesterday, I found out that the two are engaged. I've been…having doubts. I, I shouldn't…have ever…let her…go," she said, rubbing her eyes, trying hard to keep down the tears that were already beginning to slide down her cheeks.

It was then that Yasuna scooted closer to Tamao, and embraced her, Tamao's eyes growing wide. "I know we just met and all, but you can cry on my shoulder if you want," she said sympathetically. "It's not good to keep all this pain and frustration inside you."

Tamao looked at the girl, her eyes watering up more and more, and then clutched to Yasuna tightly, and started crying. She felt like she could finally let everything out, and she continued to cry and cry, soaking the shoulder of Yasuna's jacket with tears.

Tamao literally cried for a good fifteen minutes. After her crying had died down to a small sniffling, the girls stopped the embrace.

"Thank you, I really needed that," said Tamao, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. "For some reason, I feel a lot better now," she added.

"Heh, didn't I say so?" Yasuna giggled.

"I'm sorry I got your jacket all wet," Tamao apologized.

"No, that's ok. I'm happy that it made you feel better." Yasuna smiled, and Tamao couldn't help but smile back, thankful for her new friend. Wow, she's a really sweet girl, she thought.

A comfortable silence settled over the two, until Yasuna spoke.

"To tell you the truth, almost the same thing happened to me, but it was a little different from your story."

"Really? What happened?" asked Tamao.

"Let's see…" Yasuna paused, recollecting everything that had happened. "When I was little, one day my father was scolding me for breaking a vase that we had, but the one who had actually broken it was our dog, Fermata. I was about to cry, trying to tell him that it wasn't me, it was Fermata, but then, all of a sudden, he vanished from my sight, replaced only by a grey blurry figure. Soon, the same thing happened with all men; I had lost the ability to recognize them. The only people I could see were girls.

"That's the reason why a lot of guys would harass me, because I would always mistake them for one another, I couldn't tell who was who. It was really scary. Then one day, as I was playing my flute in the classroom at school, I noticed someone on the roof, tending to the garden up there. I walked to the balcony, and I noticed there was a guy standing there. I was confused at first, because rarely anyone went up there, but then I noticed something. I could see him clearly, not like the other guys. His name was Osaragi Hazumu. I think I could see him because he was very feminine; he even sounded like a girl; either that, or his heart was very pure. In any case, I had fallen in love with him at that moment.

"Last spring, while hiking on this mountain with my parents, looking for butterbur scapes, these small edible plants, I was separated from them. It was then I came across Hazumu-kun, and he helped me find this one place with lots of butterburs. After that, he and I became really good friends.

"But then one day, he confessed to me. I was so happy that he had the same feelings for me as I did him, but I was also scared. I thought that if I accepted his feelings, then he would disappear from my sight; so I rejected him. He then went to this mountain to be alone. However, something unbelievable happened…"

Yasuna paused, as if wondering if she should go on. After a few seconds, she thought of what to say.

"Well, um, around last spring, do you remember that worldwide news story that happened, the one where a kid in Tokyo was turned into a girl?"

Tamao thought for a little, and then remembered. At the time, there was news spreading all around the three schools, about an alien encounter above Tokyo, and a kid who had his gender reversed.

"Yeah, I remember that, everyone was talking about it, but I had forgotten their name…wait, do you mean that the kid in that story was this Osaragi?" asked Tamao.

"Yes, that was him, he was a major news story at the time, and probably still is," replied Yasuna.

"Anyway, after that, Hazumu kept on trying to seek me out, trying to become friends with me once again. I was afraid at first, because it was my fault that he was turned into a girl, but she didn't mind, all she wanted to do was continue the friendship we once shared. She came to my house one morning with a pot of primula flowers, and offered them to me along with her friendship once again, so I finally gave in. But this time, since he was now a girl, I could return the feelings she once had for me, without worrying that she would disappear from my vision.

"This time it was my turn to confess to her, so after I did, we kinda started dating. However, Tomari-chan, Hazumu-kun's childhood friend, also had feelings for him, and she and I eventually reached an agreement: that neither of us would make a move on Hazumu-kun, until she could decide which one of us she loved more. However, one day during the summer, when Hazumu-kun and I visited Tomari-chan at her track meet, an incident occurred, and Tomari-chan thought I was trying to break our promise by making a move on Hazumu-kun, so that night, she kissed her. Then, Tomari-chan and I got into a fight, and after she had slapped me back and shouted at me, it was at that moment that she and Hazumu-kun vanished from my sight, as well as all girls; I could no longer recognize human beings, male or female. I was heartbroken and devastated.

"Then, four months before Christmas, Hazumu-kun decided to stay by my side. Just as I was on my way to the train station, to leave Kashima City for good to live with my grandma, Hazumu found me, and told me that she loved me. It was then that my vision was restored, and I was then able to recognize men and women. However, I didn't feel right, it felt as if I was being spoiled by her kindness, and I also wanted to see what it was like to walk alone this time, now that I could see again. So, three months after that, I let her go, saying I could walk alone now, and she supported my decision. Then, on Christmas Eve, I helped her get together with Tomari-chan.

Yasuna gasped. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry if I'm talking too much," she apologized.

"No, it's alright," replied Tamao, "I didn't mind listening to your story. Anyway, it seems like you really had it rough."

"Yeah, but I'm ok now," said Yasuna.

Then, the two started to feel drops of rain beginning to fall upon them.

"Oh no, don't tell me it's starting to rain!" exclaimed Yasuna. "I didn't even bring my umbrella!"

Their fears were confirmed, as the rain started pouring down hard, soaking the two girls where they sat.

"Come on!" shouted Yasuna, grabbing the case with her flute in it, and jumped up and reached her other hand out to Tamao. "My house is nearby; we will have to run there!"

Tamao took hold of the hand that reached out to her, and Yasuna pulled her up, and the two girls ran down the path through the pouring down rain.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Yasuna and Tamao burst into Yasuna's house, both soaking wet.

A large dog with drooping, long, yellow fur bounded around the corner, and when it noticed Tamao standing there, it ran up to her, barking.

"Fermata! Be quiet, she's a friend!" exclaimed Yasuna, trying to stop the dog's incessant barking.

"Yasuna! There you are!" said a woman who had just come around the corner. "I was afraid because you had gotten caught in the rain," she said, then stopped, noticing the blue-haired girl standing beside Yasuna. "Well hello there! Are you one of Yasuna's friends?"

"Mama, this is my new friend, Suzumi Tamao-chan. She was hiking on Kashima Mountain, and we met at the top," said Yasuna, introducing Tamao to her mother.

"It's nice to meet you, Kamiizumi-san," added Tamao, bowing to Yasuna's mother.

"Likewise," she replied, bowing in return. "Yasuna, they said on the news that there's a really bad storm right now, and it's going to be continuing all night." Her mother stopped, and thought for a second. "I wouldn't want such a sweet girl going home in this weather. Suzumi-san, would you like to spend the night here? It's really no trouble at all; you seem like a nice person."

Yasuna beamed at her mother's request, and looked over to Tamao. "I would love it if you can stay with us," she said to her.

"I would have to call home first, to see if it's alright," Tamao replied, trying to hide her growing excitement at the thought of staying with this beautiful girl even longer.

"No problem! You can use our phone if you want; it's over on the end table," Yasuna's mother replied.

"Thank you, but I already have a cell phone, I can call with that," said Tamao, and pulled out her phone to call her house.

"Hello, this is the Suzumi residence," Yoshimi answered.

"Kobayashi-san? This is Tamao. Unfortunately I got caught in a really bad storm, so I won't be able to make it back home," Tamao replied.

"That's not good, would you like me to get one of our drivers to come pick you up?" asked Yoshimi.

"No, that's alright; I just met a new friend, and her mother said I could stay for the night. I'll take the train back home tomorrow if the storm clears up by then."

"Alright, make sure you call tomorrow before you do."

"Okay, goodbye," said Tamao, and disconnected the call. She turned to Yasuna and her mother, Yasuna's face eager to know her reply.

"My caretaker said I can stay the night," replied Tamao.

"Yay!" shouted Yasuna, and squeezed her around the waist with a giant hug.

"Alright, I'll prepare the bath for you girls. Yasuna, you'll have to turn the water off when the bath is done, because I need to get back to preparing dinner. Suzumi-san, do you like sushi?"

"Yes, I love sushi in fact," replied Tamao, "and thank you for your generous hospitality," Tamao bowed again.

"It's alright, I'm happy to let my daughter's new friend stay the night," said Yasuna's mother, smiling at the polite girl. "I think we also have a spare futon lying around somewhere, I'll find it after dinner. Yasuna, why don't you take Suzumi-san to your room?"

Yasuna giggled, and grabbed Tamao's hand. "It's upstairs, come on!" said Yasuna, and pulled Tamao along.

"Oh, Yasuna!" called her mother again, and both girls stopped. "Your father left for a business trip while you were gone, but he'll be back tomorrow, alright? I just figured I'd tell you."

"Alright, mama. Let's go Tamao-chan!" she exclaimed, and both girls ran up the stairs.

The two entered Yasuna's room, and Tamao sat down on the floor, while Yasuna took off her jacket and set it aside. She had been wearing a white midriff under it, but that was soaked as well. Yasuna grabbed a journal from her bookshelf on the left of the room, and brought it over to Tamao to show her. She sat down right next to her, and opened it up. Tamao's jaw nearly dropped, at the excellent artwork on the page.

"This is a journal of all the artwork I've drawn," said Yasuna, flipping the pages.

"Wow, you drew all this? You're extremely talented, Yasuna-chan," replied Tamao, admiring her drawings.

"Why, thank you! I've been practicing for a while, I used to be really bad," Yasuna laughed.

While Tamao was looking at the pages, she noticed Yasuna's chest, her bra showing through her shirt. The two girls were so excited because of the sudden sleepover that they had forgotten to change out of their wet clothes. Tamao blushed, and looked away. However, Yasuna didn't notice, because she had just remembered something. She set the book aside, and jumped up.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to show you something, it's a CD called Green Relaxation that I always listen to," said Yasuna, and ran up to the desk just in between the bookshelf and a large window that bordered almost the entire opposite wall from the door. As Yasuna picked it up though, and turned to run up to Tamao to show her, she tripped on a large stand that held a sheet of flute music, and Yasuna collapsed onto Tamao, dropping the case on the floor.

"Ow ow ow," both girls said in unison, in minor pain from the fall.

Tamao opened her eyes, and noticed that Yasuna was on top of her.

Yasuna gasped, and picked herself up, as Tamao slid out from beneath her, and sat up, both girls staring into each other's eyes.

_Wow, she smells so nice_, thought Tamao as she gazed at the other girl. She could smell a sweet scent of some type of perfume that hadn't been ruined by the rain that soaked the girl's shirt. Then, it was as if her body had taken over, as she found herself drawing closer to Yasuna, who was apparently leaning in closer to Tamao as well without knowing it. The two drew closer, as they looked into each other's eyes, and their lips became closer and closer. Tamao's heart pounded as she slowly closed her eyes, and was just about to meet Yasuna in a light kiss, when they both stopped, Yasuna hearing Fermata barking in the bathroom.

"Oh shoot, I forgot about the bath water!" Yasuna exclaimed, and stood up and ran out of the room to the bath to stop the overflowing water.

Tamao found herself disappointed that she wasn't able to kiss Yasuna, and brought a finger to her lip, trying to imagine what the other girl's lips would taste like.

* * *

That night, after the bath and dinner, Tamao and Yasuna had both changed into their pajamas, Tamao having to borrow an extra pair of Yasuna's, and Yasuna's mother had set up a futon on the floor next to Yasuna's bed, which was against the right wall in the corner of the room. Yasuna was now lying on her bed, facing Tamao, who was lying on the futon on the floor, facing back at her.

"Tamao-chan? I'm really glad I was able to meet you today," said Yasuna.

"I'm glad I was able to meet you, too!" replied Tamao, gazing at the girl.

"Maybe after you go home tomorrow, we can hang out every now and then."  
Tamao thought for a moment, and then smiled back warmly. "Sure, I would love that."

Yasuna giggled, and closed her eyes and went to sleep. Tamao couldn't sleep though; she kept on staring at the girl as she slept, especially at those small pink lips, wishing she had kissed her.

* * *

The next morning, after Tamao and Yasuna had eaten and gotten dressed, Tamao's clothes having been washed by Yasuna's mother the night before, the two set out for Kashima Central Station. When they arrived at the station, Tamao purchased a ticket from the booth, and she and Yasuna went over to a bench on the wall, and sat down.

"Tamao-chan, I had a great time yesterday. I hope we'll be able to see each other again," said Yasuna, a hint of sadness in her usually cheerful voice because she had to say goodbye so soon after meeting the girl.

"Oh! I know! My cell has a camera in it, why don't we take a picture, so I can remember you!" Tamao replied in an excited voice.

"Great idea!" said Yasuna, and she pressed her cheek against Tamao's as Tamao pulled out her phone out and prepared it.

The two gave bright smiles, and Tamao took the picture, and showed it to Yasuna, who giggled.

"We look almost like lovers!" she laughed.

"Oh my, I guess we do," Tamao smiled.

Just then, her train pulled into station, and both girls stood up.

"Well, looks like this is goodbye," said Tamao, and hugged Yasuna. "I'll see you again some other time, goodbye!"

However, just as she turned to leave, Yasuna grabbed her hand. Tamao looked back, the other girl's eyes sparkling. Just as Tamao was about to ask what was wrong, Yasuna leaned over and kissed Tamao on the cheek. She blushed, and her other hand went to feel where the girl had kissed her. Yasuna skipped a few steps away, and spun around, and giggled.

"Maybe something excellent might happen the next time we meet!" she shouted, winking at Tamao.

Tamao couldn't do anything else, because she had to run so she could catch the train before she left. However, just as she had gotten aboard, and saw Yasuna waving at her, she suddenly felt sad, and didn't want to leave.

_Oh no! I forgot to ask for her number!_ thought Tamao, and turned to run off the train. But before she had reached the exit, the doors closed, and the train began to pull out of the station. "No, no!" she shouted, and watched the other girl slowly drift to the side, Tamao running down the aisle of the train, trying to catch up with the girl, even though it was impossible.

After the train had left station, Tamao sighed sadly, and sat down. She was still holding her phone, so she put it in her pocket. However, just as she had reached into her pocket, she felt a slip of paper, and pulled it out. The top of the paper had Tamao's name on it, though it was not her handwriting. She unfolded it and read it.

_Dear Tamao, I had a wonderful time. Thank you once again for sharing your lunch with me. I hope you don't mind, but can you call me sometime?_ The letter read, and there, at the bottom, was Yasuna's phone number, along with her name, and a heart next to it. Tamao gazed at the letter, and then held it to her chest, and closed her eyes and smiled warmly. _I think I really love this girl_, Tamao thought to herself, treasuring the letter that Yasuna had written her.


	3. An Exciting Sleepover

Chapter Three – An Exciting Sleepover

Tamao awoke. She looked around, and noticed that she had fallen asleep on the train ride back to Kobe. As she looked down, she realized she still had the note that Yasuna had written to her in her hand, so she put it in her pocket, and looked out the window and watched as the scenery rushed by in a myriad of blurred colors. In the distance she saw the looming skyline of Kyoto, and guessed she was about 45 minutes away from Kobe. Sure enough, she heard the conductor announce that the train was approaching a train station in Osaka, the next city over from Kobe.

However, Tamao noticed she had a painful, lonely feeling, like something was missing. Was it because she was away from that beautiful girl? Her heart fluttered at the thought of Yasuna, and a slightly painful feeling began to grow in her heart. Tamao blushed a little at the thoughts of her, longing to see her once again. She had felt this feeling before, towards Nagisa, but somehow, this time it was stronger than how she had felt about Nagisa. Yes, a lot stronger.

Tamao propped up her elbow on the arm rest, rested her cheek in her hand, and as the surroundings rushed by, she slowly dosed off again. She sometimes had a tendency to fall asleep on long train rides.

* * *

After walking Tamao to the train station, and saying a rather sad goodbye to the girl, Yasuna had walked home, and just arrived at her house. When she opened the door, she noticed her dad peek around the corner.

"Papa!" she exclaimed, and ran up to and hugged her dad. "Welcome home!"

Her dad laughed. "I can say the same to you, too. Your mother told me you met a new friend, what was her name?"

"Suzumi Tamao, she's really pretty, extremely nice, and very polite. She even shared her lunch with me at the top of Kashima Mountain. Is it alright if she comes over again another time?"

"From what you and your mother tell me, she seems like a really nice girl. Yes, that would be alright, I would love to meet her."

"Yay, thank you Papa!" Yasuna beamed.

* * *

Tamao arrived in Kobe, and headed home. After she had got back to her house, she didn't skip on the chance to call Yasuna, but before that she had to ask Yoshimi if it was alright to invite Yasuna over to her house for a sleepover in return for letting her stay the other night.

She found Yoshimi and a few other maids preparing lunch in the kitchen, and proceeded to ask her.

"Kobayashi-san, do you have a moment?"

Kobayashi stopped what she was doing, and asked the maids to take over so that she could talk to Tamao.

"Ah, Tamao-oujosama, welcome home! Weren't you supposed to call me though before you took the train? I was planning to have a driver come pick you up at the train station," Yoshimi replied.

"Oh yes, sorry about that. I was so distracted by the girl I just met that I forgot to call," she chuckled nervously.

"Well, I guess it's alright then. Anyway, what did you need to ask me?"

"Oh yes, um, I was wondering if it would be alright to invite the friend I spent the night with over to our house to sleep over."

"I'm pretty sure your parents won't mind, go ahead. I'll make sure to make a big dinner for you two," Yoshimi smiled.

Tamao blushed a little. "Actually, I would like to make the dinner myself." As she said that, her face blushed even more.

"Why go through so much trouble? It's really no problem for us, that's what we're here for after all."

"I know," Tamao replied, her face growing ever more red, "but…I, um, just want to try my hand at it is all."

A confused frown crossed Yoshimi's face as she watched Tamao grow beet red, and Tamao averted her eyes to avoid Yoshimi's ever watchful stare.

A few moments later, the confused frown was replaced with a mischievous grin. "Uh huh, I think I see now."

"Wh-what? What do you mean?" asked Tamao. _Crap! She saw right through me! I knew this was a bad idea, _she thought to herself, as she grew nervous.

Yoshimi started giggling. "You really like this girl, don't you?" She winked at Tamao, and Tamao's face went dark red. She knew Tamao better than anyone.

"K-Kobayashi-san!" she frantically shouted.

"Ehehehe, don't worry Tamao, you know, I never told you this, but when I was your age, I was infatuated with a girl as well," Yoshimi replied.

"Really? I never knew that!" said Tamao, still taken aback by Yoshimi's earlier comment.

"Yep, although it didn't work out so well between us, but that was because we just weren't each other's type. But I'm sure it might work out for you. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being in love with the same sex, its love after all," Yoshimi smiled, and Tamao was amazed at her maid's views.

"Wow, I never knew you felt that way, Kobayashi-san. You're even more awesome than I realized," replied Tamao laughing, her nervousness replaced with relief. "Anyway, so is it alright if I make dinner by myself?"

"Sure, but you're so new at cooking right? You sure you don't want any assistance? If I were to help you, we can make a huge dinner to impress your crush," Yoshimi winked again.

Tamao blushed again, and nodded. "Sure, thank you Yoshimi-san!"

"It's no problem, I'm here to help. When did you want this girl to come over?"

"Um, next Saturday, if that's alright," she replied.

"Sure, I'll be sure to make arrangements for her to stay over," said Yoshimi, and then leaned in to whisper something in Tamao's ear. "So, do you want her to stay in the same room as you?"

Tamao's face grew dark red again. Yoshimi always found a way to fluster her. "U-u-um, ye-yes, if that's alright," she stuttered.

"A room for one it is then," Yoshimi winked. "Anyway, you should call her to ask her to come over. After all, it wouldn't be right if we prepared everything for her and she never even knew she was invited over," she laughed.

"Yeah, I'll call her right now in fact," said Tamao. She walked into the other room, and called Yasuna's home. A moment later, a soft voice answered the phone.

"This is the Kamiizumi household, who is this?"

"Hello, its Suzumi Tamao, I'm looking for Yasuna?"

"Oh Tamao-chan! I'm so glad you called!" exclaimed Yasuna, "you know, for some reason I really miss you now, I really want to see you again," Yasuna replied softly.

"Me too, in fact that's the reason why I was calling. My maid says it's alright if I invite you over for the weekend for a sleep-over, in return for last night."

"Oh cool! Yes, I would love to! What day would you like me to come over?"

"This Saturday, does that sound good?"

"Alright, I'll be sure to come then!" Yasuna paused for a second, but then added something. "Oh shoot, I don't think I have enough money for a train ticket unfortunately, I just spent most of my allowance on a new stand, since I found out I accidently broke my old one after I tripped over it trying to show you the CD," she said, really disappointed that she had no way to make it to Tamao's mansion.

"Well, is it alright if I come to Kashima to buy you a ticket, then we can ride the train back together? I wouldn't mind bearing two six hour train rides just to come pick you up."

"Really, are you sure? Train tickets are pretty expensive; I wouldn't feel right making you pay all that money."

"No, it's no problem at all. I really don't have a use for my allowance after all, since I live at the Astraea Hill Strawberry Hall dormitories. I'll come early in the morning so we'll have lots of time to hang out and such."

"Really? Oh my gosh thank you so much Tamao-chan! I'll be sure to give you a huge hug when you get here this Saturday! What time do you think you will arrive?"

"I'll try to leave around 7 in the morning, so I'll be there, say 1 in the afternoon, and then we'll get back by at least 7 or 8 in the evening. Now that I think about it, it won't leave us much time to hang out on Saturday, but we'll be able to hang out all day on Sunday! And then I can just buy you another train ticket for the trip home."

"Alright, awesome! I have to go now though, I need to help my mom with some work around the house. But I'm so excited for this Saturday! I can't wait to see you again!"

Tamao giggled, "Me either! Alright, I'll let you go now, bye Yasuna-chan!"

"Un*, bye Tamao-chan!"

Tamao pressed the end call button, and grinned. _Alright! Yasuna is coming over!_

(End of section notes: "Un" is a Japanese vocal expression that implies agreement or acknowledgement, the equivalent in English is "sure" or "alright"; however it sounds more like a grunt then an actual word)

* * *

The next day, around lunch time, Tamao received a phone call from Yaya on her cell. _Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I gave Yaya my cell number before I left for Tokyo last weekend._ She opened her phone and pressed 'accept'.

"Hello, Tamao-chan?" asked Yaya when Tamao answered her call.

"Hey Yaya-chan! What's up?" Tamao replied cheerfully.

"Nothing much, you sound energetic, did something happen?" asked Yaya, wondering why Tamao was no longer depressed.

"I'll tell you later, do you want to hang out today? We can go bowling or something in Kyoto, Tsubomi-chan as well," she answered.

"Yeah sure, I would love to! In fact that's why I was calling you. Do you want me to start a three-way call with Tsubomi so we can check if she can go?

"Alright," replied Tamao, and waited for Yaya to connect both calls. A moment later, she heard Tsubomi's voice on the other line.

"Hey there, what's up?"

"Hey Tsubomi, Tamao-chan and I were wondering if you wanted to go bowling with us in Kyoto today, you up for it? She's on the other line right now."

"Hello Tsubomi-chan," said Tamao.

"Oh hey Tamao-senpai. Yeah, that's alright, I can come. What time?" asked Tsubomi.

"Hmmm, we can all meet there at 3, that okay with you guys?" said Tamao.

"Sure, it's alright with me," replied Yaya; "alright, sounds good," Tsubomi.

"Okay, I'll see you two then, I need to get ready now," said Tamao, and after the other two said their goodbyes, she disconnected the call.

* * *

Later that day, the girls met up at a bowling alley in Kyoto, and rented a lane and bowling shoes.

"So, tell me Tamao-chan, what's got you so excited?" asked Yaya, who started the game hitting a couple of pins.

"Well, last weekend when I was hiking on Kashima Mountain in Tokyo, I met a really sweet girl who's extremely cute. And, I think I might have feelings for her," said Tamao thoughtfully, thinking of the gorgeous Yasuna.

That last comment threw Yaya off and caused her to throw a gutter ball. She spun around and ran up to her. "What? You serious? You met someone new?"

Tsubomi scooted closer to Tamao. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh, who is it? What's her name?"

"Her name is Kamiizumi Yasuna. She's the cutest girl I have ever met. She has large round deep-green eyes and long wavy dark brown hair. After I shared my lunch with her, I got stranded there because of a storm that hit, so her mom let me stay the night. She's coming over next weekend to spend the night at my house, I'm sure she'd love to meet you two. We're going swimming on Sunday, would you like to join us?"

"That sounds fun, sure," replied Yaya, and Tsubomi nodded. "See, I told you you'll find someone else, Tamao-chan! Do you know if she's also a lesbian or not?"

"Well, she was once in love with a girl, but that's a long story. Anyway, after she had walked me to the train station, she did give me a kiss on the cheek, so I think I might have a chance with her."

"That's good to hear. I hope you two get farther this weekend," said Yaya, and smiled.

"Yaya-neesama, can you help me? I'm kinda new to bowling, so I don't know how to throw the ball very well," asked Tsubomi, who had gotten up to take her turn at bowling.

"Alright I'll help you," said Yaya, and got up to assist Tsubomi.

"Oneesama huh?" Tamao said, and giggled. "Something happened during break, didn't it?"

Yaya looked back at her and stuck her tongue out, then grinned mischievously. "You know it," she said, and winked.

Tamao laughed, as Yaya demonstrated to Tsubomi how to throw the ball, and then handed the ball to her. The first time though Tsubomi missed, so Yaya told her "You'll get it, just keep trying."

The second time Tsubomi got a spare. "Yayyy, thank you Yaya-neesama!" and threw her arms around the older girl and kissed her. Out of the corner of her eye though, Yaya saw a group of guys walking by. Two of them whistled, while the third one said "oh gross, that's so disgusting."

Yaya broke the kiss, and raised some hell. "You got a fucking problem with it? I advise you perverts to fuck off before you make me even angrier!" she barked, and flipped them off.

Tamao's eyes grew wide, as did those of the guys passing by. _Yaya must have scared the hell out of them, _thought Tamao, as she watched the guys run for their lives.

"Goddamnit, I can't stand fuckers like them, thinking they can judge others like that, it's so pathetic," Yaya shook her head, and went back to kissing Tsubomi.

"Oh wow," said Tamao, shaking her head, "I can't believe that just happened."

"People like them need to mind their own fucking business, or else I'll get in their business and leave them in a damn coma!" shouted Yaya, still pissed off.

"I hear that, though I'm the type of person who would just ignore their comments."

"Well I'm going to stand up for Tsubomi-chan and I even if it means getting arrested," growled Yaya.

Tsubomi hugged Yaya, and said "Yaya-neesama, they're gone now, let's just get back to our game." Yaya returned the hug, and did as her girlfriend suggested.

"Yeah, that's sounds better sweetie, enough fuming," said Yaya, and returned to the game.

* * *

Saturday finally came around, after what seemed to Tamao like an eternity of waiting. The night before however, she barely could sleep a wink; she was so excited about the chance to hang out with Yasuna.

After she had finished getting ready, and Yoshimi had promised to get the house ready for her return, Tamao left and headed for the train station. Right before her train arrived, Tamao had called Yasuna to make sure that she was going to wait for her at the train station, and to bring her swimming suit, so they wouldn't waste a moment getting back on the train and back to Kobe.

After a six and a half hour train ride, Tamao finally arrived in Kashima. After she got off the train however, she looked everywhere for Yasuna, but couldn't see her anywhere. Tamao began to become depressed, longing to see her, when all of a sudden two arms were thrown around her from behind and hugged her close, making her heart jump.

"Gottcha!" shouted a familiar voice, and Tamao turned around to see Yasuna standing there with a beaming smile on her face. Tamao smiled back, extremely happy to see her, and bear hugged her. After a couple minutes, they broke the embrace.

"Sooo? How do you like my outfit?" asked Yasuna, who was wearing a white t-shirt, a pink jacket, and a blue ruffled skirt. She was also wearing a pink-and-black colored backpack.

"You look absolutely cute in it, it certainly fits you!" said Tamao, and Yasuna smiled and blushed. "Unfortunately this is all I had to wear," continued Tamao, indicating the white dress she had on. "I don't have much casual wear since I spend most of my time on-campus."

"It's okay, you look amazing anyway!" exclaimed Yasuna, smiling brightly. Tamao blushed as well, but then noticed that something was different about Yasuna. She looked…a little different. At first she couldn't put her finger on it, but then she noticed. Yasuna's lips were a little redder than usual, and the area around her eyes was black. _She put on lipstick and eyeliner for our sleepover,_ thought Tamao. In truth, the makeup made her look incredibly cute.

"Awww heheh, thank you. By the way, I love your new look, with the makeup and all.

"Thanks! My mom helped me put it on since I'm kinda new to makeup. I just wanted to impress you," she said, and smiled shyly.

Just then, the girls heard the announcer indicate that the next train to Kobe was pulling into station in 5 minutes.

"Oh shoot, we gotta buy the tickets!" said Tamao, and both girls went to the ticket booth to purchase the tickets. A little later, the train pulled into station. The girls boarded, and found a nice seat next to a window. Tamao had let Yasuna sit next to the window, and Tamao took the seat right next to her. After the boarding procedure was finished, the doors closed and the train began to pull out of station.

Tamao and Yasuna talked for a while, about everything that had happened over the week, and after a comfortable silence had settled between the two, Tamao had noticed that Yasuna had fallen asleep, and was resting her head on Tamao's shoulder. _She looks so adorable,_ thought Tamao, and couldn't resist herself. She tried leaning in to kiss her, but Yasuna's head was at an unapproachable angle, so Tamao gave up and just laid her head on Yasuna's, and dozed off to sleep.

* * *

It was around 8:30 when Tamao and Yasuna finally arrived in Kobe, and it was already beginning to grow dark. It looked like Yoshimi had planned things well though, because when they had arrived in station and got off the train, they saw one of Tamao's drivers waiting by a sleek silver Cadillac. After they had gotten in the car, the driver pulled away and drove towards the Suzumi mansion. Tamao looked over to see Yasuna peering out the window, watching all the buildings.

"You know, this is actually the first time I've ever been to Kobe," admitted Yasuna. "It's a very nice city."

"Really?" asked Tamao, "I lived here for about 12 years, until I moved into the Strawberry Hall dormitories. I only come back every year during the break at the end of the school term to visit my parents, and then I head back to the dorms."

"How long does this particular break last?" said Yasuna.

"For about a month, I go back in 3 weeks," replied Tamao. However, when she said that, she noticed Yasuna look depressed for a moment. "What's the matter?"

"I was just wondering, will we still be able to see each other after that? I would hate it if I couldn't see you for a while," Yasuna sighed sadly.

Tamao blushed. "Don't worry, I'll still be able to see you, we don't have classes during the weekend, so I can come over every weekend or so to come visit," she said cheerfully.

"Really? That's good then," Yasuna said relieved.

Tamao was just about to say something, when her driver interrupted. "Suzumi-oujosama, we've arrived at your estate," said the driver, and pulled up into the driveway, and approached the house. After he pulled up to the front of the house, a maid who was waiting near the doorway approached the car and opened the door on Yasuna's side. Yasuna stepped out, and after her Tamao, and Tamao watched as Yasuna stood there for a second admiring the size of her house.

"Uwwaaa, your house is so big! How many rooms are in it?" asked Yasuna.

"Bedroom-wise, there are about 15 rooms, and other than that we have a recreation and gaming room, a large open-air bath, as well as an indoor one, a private study, the standard kitchen and dining room, and finally a dining area and lounge for the servants," said Yoshimi, who had opened the door and approached the two girls. "Welcome back, Tamao-oujosama," she said, and bowed to them.

"Yasuna-chan, this is my caretaker when my parents are away, Kobayashi Yoshimi. Kobayashi-san, this is my friend Kamiizumi Yasuna."

"It's nice to meet you," said Yasuna, who bowed at the maid.

"Good to meet you too," Yoshimi smiled, and returned the bow. "If you want I can have a maid bring your backpack upstairs."

"Oh no, it's alright, it's not that heavy, all it has are my clothes and some CDs."

"Alright, if you say so," Yoshimi replied. "Tamao-oujosama, what would you and your friend like to eat tonight?"

"Hmmmm, I'm not sure, what would you like to eat, Yasuna-chan?"

"I'm not really hungry tonight, maybe some ramen and rice balls?"

"You sure?" asked Yoshimi. "We can prepare some really fancy meals."

"Yeah, its okay, I don't mind."

"Alright, I'll prepare everything, Tamao-oujosama, would you like to show Kamiizumi-san to your room?"

"Oh yes, come Yasuna-chan, we'll go up to my room," said Tamao, and was about to lead Yasuna upstairs, when Yoshimi stopped them.

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot. You received a call while you were away, Tamao-oujosama, from a girl named; oh what was her name…Aoi Nagisa, was it?"

Tamao froze and her eyes went wide. Nagisa had tried to call her?

"Did you take a message?" asked Tamao, whose heart was pounding at the mention of Nagisa's name.

"She said it was nothing important, and to call her back tomorrow, because she had other matters to attend to tonight."

"Alright, thank you Kobayashi-san. Let's go up to my room, Yasuna-chan."

* * *

The two girls walked in and took a look around. "You understand why my room is a bit bare, right?"

"Yeah, I understand. You wouldn't need a TV or anything since you rarely stay here anymore anyway," said Yasuna.

Tamao went over to her bed and sat down, and looked down at the floor. Yasuna could tell she had a slightly painful expression on her face, so she went over and sat down to Tamao, and put her hand over Tamao's. "Are you alright, Tamao-chan?"

Tamao looked over to see Yasuna with a caring expression, and sighed. "Yeah, it's just that meeting you and having fun with you almost made me forget about everything that happened that day, when I gave Nagisa up. Hang on, I'll show you what she looks like," said Tamao, and got up to pick something up off her vanity, and brought it back to show Yasuna. She handed it to Yasuna, and she took a look. In the photo was the sleeping face of an extremely cute girl with reddish-brown hair.

"Wow, she looks so pretty," said Yasuna, looking at the photo.

"Yeah, I snuck a picture of her when she was at her most vulnerable," said Tamao, and managed a little smile at the memory.

"You must have really loved Aoi-san," said Yasuna. She thought for a moment, and then added, "I'm just wondering, how did you come to be interested in women?"

* * *

Tamao looked over at Yasuna after she had asked that question, completely caught off guard, then looked down. "Well, umm, I guess since I had always been enrolled in an all-girls Catholic school, I was never around boys. Plus, lesbian love was so incredibly common there, so I guess I just started liking girls, though the only one I've actually had a crush on was Nagisa. What about you? Do you have a thing for girls?" asked Tamao, hoping that her answer was going to be yes.

"To be honest, yeah, I do now. However, even though I had lived most of my life not being able to see boys, I wasn't really interested in girls before. But being with Hazumu after he turned into a girl, my feelings for him never changed, so I thought I could also like girls. Sure enough, after I let Hazumu be with Tomari, there was a girl I did start to like a little. She was my best friend, Natsuko. I guess I started to have feelings for her, until I found out she had a huge crush on one of the guys at our school. I was a bit let down after that, but I realized it just wasn't meant to be. Actually, I'm not sure if I'll ever find a girlfriend. There are so many girls out there who would rather be with boys, not a girl like me. I'm not that cute or anything…"

Tamao cut her off. "That's not true! You are cute! You are one of the cutest girls I have ever met!"

Yasuna's eyes grew wide, and looked over at Tamao. "You really think so? I mean, Nagisa is way more attractive then I am, I'm not…" Yasuna was cut off again, as Tamao leaned in suddenly and kissed her.

Yasuna's face turned bright red, but she didn't pull back. The girls sat there for a couple of minutes, continuing to kiss, until a knock came on Tamao's bedroom door.

Tamao pulled back immediately, flustered. "Ye-yes, what is it?" she asked.

"Tamao-oujosama, didn't you say you wanted to help out with dinner?" it was Yoshimi.

"Oh yeah, one moment, I'll be downstairs in a little bit," said Tamao, and turned to Yasuna, who was still red and was looking down shyly. "I'm sorry for doing that without your permission, Yasuna-chan, I wasn't thinking at all."

Yasuna looked back up at her. "No! It's alright; I didn't mind it at all!" She was obviously still taken aback by the kiss.

Tamao smiled a little, then got up and walked to the door. "Come, let's go downstairs. I can get a maid to show you around while I help Kobayashi-san with dinner."

Yasuna, who was still blushing, nodded, and stood up to follow Tamao.

* * *

After Tamao had helped out making the ramen and rice balls Yasuna had suggested, and Yasuna had finished her tour of the mansion, the housekeepers set up the table and had Tamao and Yasuna sit down for dinner.

Yasuna gazed at the meal that lay before her. It looked so incredibly delicious. _Tamao must've done an excellent job, I bet she's a natural cook,_ thought Yasuna, and looked up at Tamao. The kiss she had shared with her went through her head, so she quickly looked back down and blushed.

She didn't hate it, that wasn't it at all. Kissing Tamao had felt so amazing that it had began to make her head spin, and gave her an incredibly warm feeling. It's just that, now, she couldn't look Tamao in the face, because then her heart would start to race and she felt a slightly painful feeling. _I wonder why I feel this way,_ thought Yasuna. She had never experienced anything like this before. Just even thinking about her gave her butterflies in her stomach. _Then again, I started to feel this way about her when I first met her, but it wasn't as strong as it is now. _As she pondered the way she felt, Tamao spoke up.

"Well, shall we began?" she asked, and Yasuna nodded. Both of them said "Itadakimasu!" and began to eat the meal.

The bowl of ramen tasted just as amazing at it had looked, even more so. Yasuna had never tasted ramen this good before. Besides the noodles, there were slices of chicken, hard-boiled egg slices placed here and there, and there were all types of delicious vegetables. There were also 3 neatly shaped rice balls placed around the bowl.

"Oh my gosh, this is extremely delicious!" exclaimed Yasuna.

"Heheh, thank you. It was actually my first time cooking, I've always had maids cook for me before. Yoshimi helped me this time around, but she let me do most of the work, she just instructed me what to do. So you really like it?"

"Un! You're an amazing cook, Tamao-chan!" said Yasuna, and continued eating the delicious meal. After the meal, Yasuna felt really full, and the food had warmed her up.

"It's getting late, let's go to bed for the night, and have tons of fun tomorrow," suggested Tamao. Just before the girls went upstairs, Tamao stopped. "By the way, I didn't know if it was alright with you or not, but I had Kobayashi-san move a futon into my room right next to my bed. I wasn't sure if you were okay sharing a bed with me or not."

At that, Yasuna blushed. "N-no, I don't mind at all. I was actually going to ask you if I can sleep with you in your bed. At home I'm fine sleeping by myself, but whenever I'm away from home I have a tendency to sleep with others."

Tamao smiled. "Alright, it's okay if you sleep with me tonight."

* * *

After both girls had changed into their pajamas, they both went into Tamao's room. Tamao was wearing a long, light blue nightgown, and Yasuna was wearing a pair of pink pajamas. Surprisingly, they looked exactly like the pair Nagisa always wore. However, that didn't come to Tamao's mind at all, she was still too distracted by the kiss they had shared. Tamao crawled into bed, and Yasuna climbed in after her.

Tamao looked over at Yasuna, but she could tell something was wrong. Yasuna was avoiding eye contact with her. Tamao sighed. "Yasuna, I'm still sorry about kissing you. If it hurt your feelings at all, I'm really truly sorry; we don't have to do it again."

"No no, that's not it at all! Kissing you felt amazing, it's just, I'm new to this kind of stuff, I'm just a bit nervous." She then looked over to Tamao, with a determined look on her face. "Actually, if it's alright, can I kiss you this time?"

Tamao had a surprised look on her face, but then nodded, and closed her eyes, and started to move her head towards Yasuna's, as she did the same. The lips of the two girls met, and they began to kiss. Tamao's head began to felt fuzzy, and she felt compelled to kiss the other girl even more, so the two began to make out. To Tamao, Yasuna's lips tasted so sweet. She began to push her tongue out, and it brushed against Yasuna's lips, seeking to enter her mouth. Yasuna's lips parted, and Tamao pushed her tongue pass the other girl's lips, and began to feel every inch of her sweet mouth. Yasuna did the same, and their tongues met several times, sliding across and against each other time and time again.

The two continued to go at it, and Tamao started to use her hand to slowly rub the girl's side, and down to her legs, and rubbed her thigh with her hand. They rolled over a bit so that Yasuna was on bottom, and Tamao was lying on top of her. Yasuna's hands cupped Tamao's cheeks, and made out with her with even more energy. _Gosh, she's so aggressive, thought _Tamao, and used her hand to rub her thigh, then slid it underneath her to cup and grab Yasuna's cute and firm ass. She was just about to slide her hand into Yasuna's pants, when images of Nagisa began to flash through her mind, and she jerked back and gasped.

"What's wrong?" asked Yasuna, alarmed at the sudden stop.

Tamao shook her head to clear her mind. "It's just that, well…" she tried to voice out what was in her mind, but couldn't find a way to put it in words. It was almost if something was telling her to wait until doing things with Yasuna. Deep down, she felt that she had some unfinished business, but she didn't have a clue what it was though. Tamao sighed, and found an excuse. "Um, well, I was thinking we shouldn't do this, not yet. Actually, it's getting pretty late, we should get to bed so we can get up early to go to the pool…" she paused, then added "Oh yeah, there's someone I wanted you to meet tomorrow, my friends Yaya-chan and Tsubomi-chan. You'll like them, they're extremely friendly. They're actually girlfriend and girlfriend."

Yasuna nodded. "Yeah, I understand, we probably should get to bed. And I can't wait to meet them!" she smiled.

Tamao let out a sigh of relief, glad that Yasuna understood. She kissed Yasuna quickly on the forehead, and then rolled to the side of her and pulled up the covers. The two said their goodnights, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Yasuna woke up, her vision at first blurry as she looked around the room, so she used her hands to rub and clear her eyes. However, she didn't see Tamao anywhere. She got out of bed, put on her slippers, and went downstairs. Then, she heard Tamao's voice come from the kitchen off to the right, so she went over to where she had heard it.

There in the kitchen, Tamao was helping Yoshimi prepare breakfast for the morning. Tamao turned to say something to Yoshimi, and saw Yasuna out of the corner of her eye, so she stopped what she was doing, excused herself, and walked up to Yasuna.

"Good morning, sleepy head, how are you doing? Still tired?"

"Nah, I slept really good last night, I'm wide awake now!" she said, and smiled.

Tamao smiled back. "Good to hear. I'm just helping Yoshimi prepare breakfast. I've already gotten a hold of Yaya and Tsubomi; they'll meet us at the public pool in Kobe at 11. After we swim, we can all go out to eat, my treat, and after that, we'll head to the train station. Sound good?"

Yasuna nodded. "Sure, sounds exciting!" She took a moment to peer around Tamao to where Yoshimi was cooking, and took a sniff. "Mmmmm, smells delicious! What'cha guys making?"

"We're just making a quick breakfast: eggs, sausage, and pancakes. You aren't allergic to anything are you? I kinda forgot to ask last night, eheheh," Tamao chuckled nervously.

"No no, I'm not allergic to anything, at least not that I know of. What are we going to do before we go to the pool though?" asked Yasuna.

"Hmmmm, I'm not really sure actually. It's 8:14 right now, we'll get ready at 9:30 and leave by 10. So we have about an hour and 15 minutes to eat and talk, I can probably show you the garden my parents have out back, it's extremely pretty."

"Alright," said Yasuna, "I'll just wait over at the dining table until the meal is ready."

A couple of minutes later, Tamao and Yoshimi came out with the food, and placed it before Yasuna. As with the ramen the night before, everything looked really delicious.

* * *

After Tamao and Yasuna had eaten, took a walk in the garden, and gotten ready, they left for the pool, and after a little while, met up with Yaya and Tsubomi at the entrance.

"Tamao-chan, what's up?" said Yaya, and ran up to her and gave her a hug.

"Nothing much, Yaya-chan," she smiled, and returned the hug. "Girls, I want you to meet my new friend, Kamiizumi Yasuna. Yasuna-chan, these are my good friends, Nanto Yaya and Okuwaka Tsubomi."

"Nice to meet you," Yaya and Tsubomi said in unison, and bowed to Yasuna, who did the same.

"It's nice to meet you two as well," she smiled.

"Let's go inside and get changed everyone," suggested Yaya, so the four went into the entrance, paid the admission, and entered the changing room.

While the girls got changed, Tamao tried extremely hard to keep from sneaking a look at Yasuna, who was more than likely naked. _Just a quick look,_ she thought, her perverted ways taking a hold of her, and looked slightly to the left and looked to the corner of her vision. Just as she looked, Yasuna was about to pull off her panties, when Yaya elbowed her side, so Tamao jerked her head to look over at Yaya, who was grinning at her.

"_You should wait until you guys have sex, you know," _Yaya whispered in Tamao's ear, "_it wouldn't be right looking at her nude body now, now would it? Leave it as a surprise until then."_

Tamao sighed, defeated for the moment, and went back to changing into her swimsuit. After the four girls had finished changing, they walked out of the changing room and to the area around the pool. Yasuna spun around and faced Tamao, showing off her swim suit.

"What do you think, Tamao-chan?" giggled Yasuna, "I got it not too long ago, this is the first time I've had a chance to really try it out." The suit she was wearing was a white two-piece string bikini, which looked incredibly sexy on Yasuna, Tamao thought.

"You look extremely sexy," Tamao grinned, and Yasuna's eyes went wide and she blushed.

"Th-thank you," she said, smiling shyly. "Yours is just as sexy as well," she said, indicating the blue two-piece that Tamao was wearing.

"Why thank you," she smiled, and led the girls over to the water edge. Tamao slipped into the pool, and turned around and offered her hand to Yasuna to assist her in getting in. Yasuna didn't take her hand however, instead turning away and walking off. Tamao was surprised for a moment, when Yasuna spun around and ran to the edge of the pool, diving into it with such beautiful form.

"Hehehe, I was on the swim team for a little, before I switched to music. I still know how to dive though," she smiled after she surfaced, and swam up to Tamao. Yaya and Tsubomi jumped in, and the girls began swimming around.

A little later, Yaya swam up to Tamao. "Hey Tamao-chan, mind if I try to get Yasuna-san to race me to the other side?"

Tamao giggled. "Yeah sure, Tsubomi-chan and I will cheer you two on then," she smiled, and Tsubomi nodded.

"Hey Yasuna-san," Yaya called over to Yasuna, who came swimming up.

"Yes, Yaya-san was it?" she asked.

"Yeah, wanna race me to the other side of the pool?" Yaya grinned. "Bet'cha can't beat me!"

Yasuna smirked. "Alright, you got it! Let's go over to the side first," she said, and swam over to the edge, followed by Tamao, Yaya, and Tsubomi. Tsubomi and Tamao got up out of the water, while Yaya and Yasuna waited at the edge.

"Care to do the honors, Tamao-chan?" asked Yaya.

Tamao smiled. "Alright girls, first one to touch the other edge and swim back wins! Don't cheat by going part way, or you'll be disqualified. The loser has to…um…buy us lunch I suppose?"

Yaya grinned mischievously. "Better idea. The winner gets to kiss one of you two! If I win, I kiss Tsubomi, and if Yasuna-san wins, she kisses you Tamao-chan, and I have to wait 30 minutes until I can kiss Tsubomi."

Both Tamao and Yasuna blushed, looked at each other, and nodded.

"Ready? Set….GO!" shouted Tamao, as Yasuna bolted off across the water, Yaya close behind her. Yaya managed to get in front of Yasuna for a little, but Yasuna put more effort into it and sped past Yaya, touched the other edge, and swam back.

Tamao watched as Yasuna left Yaya in the dust, and Yasuna quickly swam back to Tamao. As soon as Yasuna had reached her, she grabbed hold of the bar, lifted herself up with her feet planted on the ladder, and launched herself at Tamao, planting her lips against Tamao's, and pushed off and quickly splashed back down into the water. Tamao was caught off guard at the kiss, her eyes wide, as Yasuna swam there grinning.

Yaya, who was close behind, laughed. "I guess I lost to you, you're quite the impressive swimmer Yasuna-san! Well, since I lost, I'll buy us all lunch," she smiled, so all four girls got out of the water and went to order their lunch.

* * *

"So, Yasuna-san, how did you meet Tamao-senpai?" asked Tsubomi, after the four had sat down to eat their lunches.

"Well, I was just practicing playing my flute for an upcoming concert in my town, when all of a sudden Tamao-chan came out of nowhere and offered me her lunch. She was there for some school activity; I forgot exactly what it was."

"I had to write a poem about nature, and I happened to see a brochure about Kashima Mountain, so I decided to go hiking," explained Tamao.

"Right, well, she got stuck in Kashima though because of a really bad storm, so my mom let her stay the night, and she left the next day," said Yasuna, taking a sip of the pop she had gotten.

"Anyway," Yasuna continued, "Do you two and Tamao-chan go to the same school?"

"Yeah," Yaya answered, "but we never really started talking until we met through Nagisa-san."

"That's right," Tamao added. "We had been going to the same school for a while, but we were never really that close, that is until Nagisa-chan had transferred to our school. Nagisa-chan, Yaya-chan, her friend Hikari-chan, and I were all talking about how cute Nagisa-chan and Hikari-chan would look in aprons, since St. Miator has a tradition where under-classmen are selected to become room-keepers for the upper-classmen and have to wear aprons, when we all came across each other in the hall. After that, we all started having midnight tea parties every now and then."

"Yeah, those tea parties were fun!" smiled Tsubomi.

"Wow, a midnight tea party, huh?" replied Yasuna. "I bet it would be fun. I've never really had a tea party with my friends before."

"That's an idea, the next time we hang out, you should all sleep over at my house and we can have a midnight tea party!" Tamao smiled, and everyone said it was a great idea.

* * *

The four girls continue to eat; however, Yasuna had grown quiet. She sat there gazing at Tamao from across the table, a slightly painful but warm feeling in her heart as she watched Tamao laugh and smile. She didn't quite know what it was, but she felt this way whenever she looked at or thought about Tamao, her heart would pound just at the sight of her.

Tamao caught Yasuna's gaze out of the corner of her eye, and looked over at her, and smiled. Yasuna blushed and smiled shyly, and looked down at her food. Her eyes wandered up to meet Tamao's again, and she felt her face get hot.

Alarmed by Yasuna's silence however, Tamao spoke up. "Are you alright, Yasuna-chan?" she asked, and both Yaya and Tsubomi looked over at Yasuna, "Your face is starting to grow red, is everything okay?"

"W-what was that? Oh, yeah, I'm okay, eheheheh," Yasuna giggled nervously.

"Alright, if you say so," said Tamao, and looked at her watch. "Oh shoot, it's already one o'clock? Yasuna and I have to head to the train station to get her back home before it gets too late, I'm sorry to cut this short you guys."

"Oh no, it's already that time? I was hoping we could all spend some more time hanging out, but I guess it can't be helped," replied Yasuna, a little let down that they couldn't have any more fun for the day.

"Do you mind if Tsubomi-chan and I walk you two back to the train station? Both of us have to go there anyway to take the train back to Kyoto."

"Yeah, that would be alright, thanks you two," smiled Tamao. "Okay, let's all get dressed and go," she said, and all four headed to the changing room.

* * *

Later that day, the four girls arrived at the train station, and were waiting for their trains.

"Man, I had a lot of fun today and last night, Tamao-chan! Thank you again for inviting me over to spend the night," said Yasuna, and hugged Tamao tightly.

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun too, spending time with you," replied Tamao, who hugged Yasuna back.

Just then, Yasuna's train pulled into station. Yasuna continued to hug Tamao close to her, not wanting to leave her side. However, when she heard over the intercom that her train had now arrived, she eventually let go.

"Well, there's my train. I guess I'll see everyone later. Yaya-san, Tsubomi-san, it was really nice meeting you two. I hope we can all hang out again sometime."

"It was nice meeting you too! Have a safe trip, Yasuna-san," replied Tsubomi.

Yasuna then quickly kissed Tamao on the cheek, giggled shyly, and then went to board the train.

"Bye Yasuna-chan!" waved Tamao, and Yasuna waved back, just before boarding her train. After the train left the station, Yaya approached Tamao.

"She's a very cute girl, Tamao-chan, and has a very nice personality. I have a feeling you two will make a good couple," said Yaya, and smiled.

Tamao blushed at Yaya's comment. "Thank you," she replied, "but I don't think we'll make quite a good couple as you and Tsubomi-chan."

"Well that's only because we've been dating for several months already," replied Tsubomi, and hugged Yaya's arm. Yaya smiled, and kissed Tsubomi on the forehead, and Tsubomi giggled.

Tamao was about to reply, when Yaya and Tsubomi's train pulled into station.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye. Nice hanging with ya, Tamao-chan," smiled Yaya, and went up to hug Tamao. After she and Tsubomi had hugged Tamao, the two boarded their train, and Tamao waved and turned to walk home.

* * *

Tamao had arrived home, and was taking off her shoes, when a thought crossed her mind. _Oh shoot, I need to call Nagisa!_

She was a bit nervous to talk to Nagisa after all this time though, because whenever she would kiss Yasuna, Nagisa would flash through her mind, and she felt that something was nagging her at the back of her mind, but she still couldn't figure out what it was.

She shook her head to clear it, and went to a note Yoshimi had written next to the house phone. She picked it up and read the message from Nagisa that Yoshimi had recorded, and picked up the phone and typed in the number that she wrote after that.

She waited a few moments, the dial tone sounding on the line, and a female voice answered. "Moshi moshi, this is the Hanazono residence, may I ask who is calling?"

"Um, hello, this is Suzumi Tamao, is Aoi Nagisa still staying there? She had called me from this number and left a message saying to call her back."

"Oh yes," the woman replied, "she and Shizuma just got back; I'll let her know you're calling."

Tamao waited for a minute or two, her heart beating fast. This was the first time talking to Nagisa after the break started, and she was still a bit nervous.

"Hey Tamao-chan, are you still there?" Nagisa said over the phone.

"Yeah, I'm still here, what's up?" replied Tamao.

"I'm glad to talk to you again, Tamao-chan, it's been a while, but it feels like forever!" Nagisa laughed over the phone.

Tamao laughed as well. "Yes, it certainly has. I trust your doing well?"

"Yeah, I've had a lot of fun with Shizuma so far. But I wanted to ask something. Are you available next weekend? Shizuma suggested that we all hang out and go eat somewhere. She said she'll pay for you."

Tamao thought for a moment, trying to remember if she had anything planned this weekend. Nothing came to mind, so she replied, "Yeah, sure, that sounds nice." Tamao smiled. She was happy that she would get the chance to see Nagisa during the break, but was a little worried that things might be awkward when she went to see them.

"Alright, that's excellent! I can't wait to see you again Tamao, we haven't seen each other much after the incident at the Étoile coronation," Nagisa paused, then continued, "I also need to talk to you about the way I've been acting since then, but I'll save it for this weekend. Anyway, I have to go now; Shizuma and I were going to help her mother prepare dinner. I'll see you this weekend!" said Nagisa

"Alright, bye!" replied Tamao, and pressed the 'disconnect call' button. She was a little nervous, sure, but happy nonetheless. She hadn't gotten to spend much time with Nagisa anymore since the coronation.

* * *

After a long day of hanging out and having fun, Tamao was exhausted, and let herself fall back onto her bed, and she let out a sigh. Already in her pajamas, she briefly thought of Yasuna, smiled, then pulled herself up and got under her covers, and was asleep in an instant.


	4. Current Story Progress

This is not really a chapter update, but I just wanted all my subscribers to know that I am still planning on continuing the story, it's just that progress on Chapter Four has been painfully slow due to lack of motivation, I have a major case of writers-block, but I promise that soon I'll continue working on Chapter Four and continue this, if I may say so myself, adorable Tamao x Yasuna story. Once it is finished I will remove this page and update it with the actual chapter.


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